Women's Basketball: Princeton stays perfect

The women’s basketball team hardly rested for its Thanksgiving break, as Princeton added two more wins to its collection, improving to 6-0 this season. On Friday, the Tigers rolled over Davidson (2-4) for a 53-44 victory, which they followed with a devastating 75-55 win over local rival Rider (2-2) on Sunday.

Only Davidson has been able to keep the margin within single digits against the undefeated Princeton squad. This year marks the third time in program history that Princeton has started with six straight wins, the first since the ’70s; the Tigers have never been able to extend that streak to seven.

In Friday’s game against the Wildcats, junior forward Niveen Rasheed spearheaded the hosts’ efforts, putting up 24 points and nine rebounds in a match that held particular significance for her and the Tigers. When the Tigers played at Davidson last winter, Rasheed was taken out of the game with a leg injury that turned out to be a torn ACL, sending the star to surgery and ending her season.

“It was definitely really weird, coming in today and seeing Davidson,” Rasheed told GoPrincetonTigers.com after the match. “But once the game started, it was just a game.”

This time, the Tigers blasted the Wildcats from the very beginning of the match, starting with 10 consecutive points, six of which were scored by Rasheed. Princeton held the lead for the rest of the period, but it was eventually weathered down to nine points at the start of the second half.

Princeton quickly put the Wildcats back down, however, when Rasheed dropped eight consecutive points on the Davidson defense. Contributions from junior point guard Lauren Polansky and a three-pointer from sophomore guard Nicole Hung pushed Princeton’s lead back to 18 points with 13 minutes left in the game.

Princeton and Davidson would exchange short offensive bursts, but the Tigers’ lead proved to be too much for the Wildcats, who were never less than eight points away from Princeton for the rest of the game. The Tigers helped to dismantle much of the Wildcats’ search for the comeback, forcing 24 turnovers and blocking seven shots in the match, but the hosts still felt they could have done better.

“We didn’t put them away like we wanted to,” Rasheed said. “They took us out of our rhythm. It shows we have more work to do.”

Princeton also recorded 14 steals in the game, led by Polansky, who notched a remarkable eight takeaways. The Tigers completely shut down Davidson’s ability to shoot from the field, allowing the visitors to make only 34.6 percent of their shots. The Wildcats made just one-third of their three-point attempts.

Princeton continued with the momentum later in the weekend with a short trip to Rider. The visitors led by more than 20 points multiple times during the game.

The Tigers started the match running over the Broncs’ defense, eventually taking an 11-point lead only six minutes into the first half after Polansky fed senior guard Lauren Edwards for back-to-back three-pointers. The Tigers kept the lead for the rest of the game.

The Broncs cut the advantage down to three points with 12 minutes left in the half, but Princeton spent the next eight minutes slamming down the Rider offense, going on a 17-3 run that saw only a single basket made by the Broncs.

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Going into the half, Princeton led Rider 43-27, and the visitors continued to find easy points while shutting their offense down in a manner that has become expected of the Tigers, eventually cruising to a 20-point victory.

Princeton also held the Broncs to a mere 38.8 percent shooting from the field, as well as picking up 12 steals and blocking four shots through the course of the night. Edwards was the highest scorer on the team, scoring 14 points in a game that showed contributions from nearly the entire squad.

“We’ve had an impressive start, and hopefully we can keep it up on Thursday,” Polansky said. “Team defense is kind of the most crucial part of what keeps us going, and it often fuels our offense, so it was really important that everyone contributed.”

This Thursday night the Tigers will take on Delaware in their next outing. The Blue Hens are a fringe Top-25 team that received 79 votes in the most recent Associated Press poll. Princeton received nine votes in the same poll, and with a win, Tiger fans can expect their team to edge closer to an esteemed spot as one of the top 25 teams in the nation.